As vehicle manufacturers have known for a considerable time, headlamps have an important function in the passive safety of vehicles, particularly in respect of pedestrians with whom collisions may occur.
Such collisions can result in major bodily injury, even at low speeds (less than 40 km/h). Consequently, headlamps are commonly provided with energy absorption means in order to reduce the impact suffered by a pedestrian and thus decrease the risks of serious bodily injury.
One particular example of a headlamp provided with energy absorption means is known from the European Patent Application published under the number EP-1,059,200.
Although known headlamps of this type have enabled considerable progress to be made in respect of passive safety, they have a certain number of disadvantages.
In particular, the addition of energy absorption means frequently requires significant structural modifications of the headlamp, with the addition of numerous parts which make the headlamp more bulky, increase its weight and add to its cost.
The object of the invention is, in particular, to mitigate the aforesaid disadvantages by proposing a headlamp which, while providing optimal passive safety, particularly in respect of pedestrians, has relatively small overall dimensions and comprises a limited number of parts.